plus 4, Mammography may increase cancer risk for some women - Los Angeles Times Blogs

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• Mammography may increase cancer risk for some women - Los Angeles Times Blogs
• Breast Cancer Campaign: Breast Cancer Research Funding To Establish ... - Medical News Today
• Estrogen Receptor-alpha may Increase Survival Benefit Among Breast ... - Med India
• A tone-deaf message on mammograms - Boston Globe
• Protein from pregnancy hormone may prevent breast cancer - Genetic Engineering News

Mammography may increase cancer risk for some women - Los Angeles Times Blogs Posted: 01 Dec 2009 06:38 AM PST Women who have a known genetic or hereditary risk of developing breast cancer are advised to get regular mammograms, often beginning as early as age 20. But the benefits of such vigilance may be offset by the harm from receiving so much radiation, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Researchers conducted a review of previous studies to look at whether low-dose radiation from mammography affects breast cancer risk among high-risk women. They found six studies that addressed this question and, using data from those studies, they were able to estimate the odds for radiation-induced breast cancer risk. They found that, among all high-risk women, the average increased risk of breast cancer due to low-dose radiation was 1.5 times greater compared with high-risk women not exposed to radiation. High-risk women exposed before age 20 or who those who had five or more exposures were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than high-risk women not exposed to low-dose radiation. Radiation exposure is thought to be more dangerous in younger women than older women because of higher rates of cell growth among younger women Women at high risk for breast cancer are often urged to undergo both mammography and breast MRI each year from the ages of 25 to 65, said the lead author of the study, Dr. Marijke C. Jansen-van der Weide, an epidemiologist with the Department of Epidemiology and Radiology at University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. High-risk women and their doctors may want to consider alternative screening methods, such as ultrasound and MRI, she said. "It's very important for high-risk women to be screened," she said in a telephone interview. "But for young high-risk women it's important to weigh the benefits and risks of mammography screening with their doctors because there are alternative screenings strategies like MRIs." MRIs may be underutilized for these women. There are drawbacks to these methods, however. MRI's have higher rates of false positives, are more expensive and more time-consuming.   The study included small numbers of women, Jansen-van der Weide noted. Larger studies should be conducted to better understand the radiation risks conferred by mammography. -- Shari Roan Photo credit: Beebe / Custom Medical Stock Photo This content has passed through fivefilters.org. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Breast Cancer Campaign: Breast Cancer Research Funding To Establish ... - Medical News Today Posted: 27 Nov 2009 12:52 AM PST Main Category: Breast Cancer Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine; Cancer / Oncology Article Date: 27 Nov 2009 - 1:00 PST email to a friend printer friendly view / write opinions rate article Scientists are closer to discovering why some people respond to breast cancer radiotherapy better than others, according to Breast Cancer Campaign. Dr Laura Smith, at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, has been awarded a pilot grant by Breast Cancer Campaign, to study why some types of breast cancers are difficult to destroy with radiotherapy. The grant forms part of £2 million awarded to 20 projects in the UK and Ireland. Previous research has shown that breast cancer cells which are difficult to destroy with radiotherapy contained reduced amounts of molecules called GRP78, PSMD9 and DARS. Dr Smith and her team aim to find out what role these molecules play in preventing radiotherapy from working in breast cancer. Dr Smith said, "We are grateful for this funding from Breast Cancer Campaign which we hope will lead to a way to predict how successful treatment will be in people with different types of breast cancer." Arlene Wilkie, Director of Research and Policy, Breast Cancer Campaign said, "This research could lead to a simple test to establish the effectiveness of radiotherapy prior to treatment. Radiotherapy is not suitable for everyone with breast cancer and this would ensure that only those who will benefit from the treatment will receive it." Notes Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure Currently it supports 115 research projects, worth almost £16 million, in 44 centres of excellence across the UK and Ireland Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women In the UK, nearly 46,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year - that's 125 a day Visit http://www.breastcancercampaign.org Read Chief Executive Pamela Goldberg's blog http://pamelagoldbergblog.blogspot.com/ The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise showed the University of Leeds to be the UK's eighth biggest research powerhouse. The University is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University's vision is to secure a place among the world's top 50 by 2015. http://www.leeds.ac.uk The Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM) is a research Institute of the University dedicated to defining the molecules involved in human diseases, and using this knowledge to develop novel therapies and new drugs. http://www.limm.leeds.ac.uk/ Source Breast Cancer Campaign This content has passed through fivefilters.org. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Estrogen Receptor-alpha may Increase Survival Benefit Among Breast ... - Med India Posted: 27 Nov 2009 07:33 AM PST Approximately 50% of breast carcinomas are resistant to tamoxifen. Preclinical studies have shown that ER-alpha S118-P is required for response to tamoxifen. Göran Landberg, M.D., Ph.D., of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, School of Cancer, Enabling Sciences and Technology at the University of Manchester, and colleagues evaluated data from 239 premenopausal patients with breast cancer who participated in a randomized trial of 2 years of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment vs. no systemic treatment. The association between recurrence-free survival and ER-alpha S118-P expression in tumor tissue was investigated. Researchers found evidence of a statistically significant recurrence-free survival benefit from adjuvant tamoxifen, compared with no systemic treatment, among patients whose tumors had high ER-alpha S118-P expression (23.7 vs. 72.2 recurrences per 1000 person-years) but not among patients whose tumors had low expression (51.0 vs. 57.0 recurrences per 1000 person-years). ER-alpha S118-P was not associated with a benefit among untreated patients. "Our study highlights the importance of assessing the functionality of a drug target," the authors write. "Future studies are necessary to evaluate whether ER-alpha S118-P expression is associated with tamoxifen response among post-menopausal patients." Source-Eurekalert RAS This content has passed through fivefilters.org. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

A tone-deaf message on mammograms - Boston Globe Posted: 27 Nov 2009 05:46 AM PST What the scientists did, says Carnegie Mellon's Baruch Fischhoff, who studies the fine art of risk communication, "is give an external view of what's true at the population level.'' In other words, they told the statistical story from up high. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Protein from pregnancy hormone may prevent breast cancer - Genetic Engineering News Posted: 24 Nov 2009 10:14 AM PST Email Print Share More News Nov 24 2009, 1:20 PM EST Protein from pregnancy hormone may prevent breast cancer EUREKALERT Contact: Tara Yates tara.yates@aacr.org 267-646-0558 American Association for Cancer Research PHILADELPHIA Researchers have found that hormones produced during pregnancy induce a protein that directly inhibits the growth of breast cancer. This protein, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), may serve as a viable, well-tolerated agent for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer, according to findings published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Hormones in pregnancy, such as estrogen, all induce AFP, which directly inhibits the growth of breast cancer," said lead researcher Herbert Jacobson, Ph.D., who is a basic breast cancer researcher in the Center for Immunology and Microbial Diseases and in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Albany Medical College, N.Y. "The body has a natural defense system against breast cancer," he added. "AFP needs to be safely harnessed and developed into a drug that can be used to protect women from breast cancer." Recent studies have shown that hormones released during pregnancy, such as estrogen, progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin, reduce a women's risk for breast cancer. AFP is a protein normally produced by the liver and yolk sac of a fetus. Jacobson and colleagues sought to determine whether administering pregnancy hormones to carcinogen-exposed rats led them to produce AFP, which in turn produces the protective effect of pregnancy in the absence of pregnancy. Results from this study showed that treatment with estrogen plus progesterone, estrogen alone or human chorionic gonadotropin reduced the incidence of mammary cancers in rats. Furthermore, the researchers noted that each of these treatments elevated the serum level of AFP and that AFP directly inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells growing in culture, suggesting that these hormones of pregnancy are preventing breast cancer through their induction of AFP. Cancer Prevention Research Editorial Board Member Powel Brown, M.D., Ph.D., said while these preclinical findings are important and suggest a role of AFP in breast cancer prevention, they are not yet ready to be used in the clinic. "The researchers have not directly demonstrated the cancer preventive activity of AFP, instead they found an association of these hormones preventing mammary tumors. None of these treatments prevented mammary tumors in 100 percent of the rats, it appears to delay mammary tumor formation and prevent breast cancer development in approximately 30 to 50 percent of the rats," said Brown, professor of medicine and cancer prevention and clinical cancer prevention department chairman at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "This study is promising and suggests that additional animal studies need to be done before translation to humans," he said. "We may want to further test AFP for its cancer prevention activity." Jacobson and colleagues are currently conducting studies in which they have isolated a small piece of AFP molecule and are working to convert it into a breast cancer preventative agent. Subscribe to the Cancer Prevention Research RSS Feed: http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/rss/recent.xml Subscribe to the AACR News RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/aacr The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 30,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and nearly 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 16,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy. Email Print Share More News This content has passed through fivefilters.org. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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